On March 27th, 2024, Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order to “address acts of anti-Semitism in institutions of higher learning.” More tangibly, the governor's order directed all public institutions of higher education in Texas to review and update their policies on free speech with regards to anti-Semitism, and to “discipline” pro-Palestine student organizations. Governor Greg Abbott has been engaged in a more-than-half-decade-long battle against viewpoints that are sympathetic to Palestinians or critical of Israel. Executive Order GA 44 is Governor Abbott’s latest effort to suppress critical viewpoints about Israel.

A coalition of students, faculty, and community members at Texas State University alarmed by the Governor’s Executive Order delivered a joint-letter on May 1st, 2024 to President Damphousse, calling on the President to reaffirm support for academic freedom and defend the legitimacy of pro-Palestine student organizations at Texas State. In this effort, our deep concerns were officially ignored yet Texas State’s newly updated free speech and expressive activities policy still reflects our campus’ efforts against full EO implementation. Notably, the updated policy doesn’t make explicit all the demands of the Executive order.

The Texas State University System Board of Regents and campus officials, such as President Damphousse, are vested with broad discretionary authority by the Texas legislature in regards to student disciplinary action. This discretionary authority must be used to protect students from an illegal Executive order which has already been challenged in court by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, for violating students rights to free speech and assembly. So far, Texas university administrations have done the bidding of an extremist Governor, green-lighting the police brutality and arrests of peacefully protesting pro-Palestine students, faculty, and community members.

Texas State has already exercised this discretionary authority regarding the order’s implementation by not incorporating the entirety of the Texas government’s internal-facing anti-Semitism definition into our free speech and expressive activities policy. That definition incorporates by reference “examples of anti-Semitism” that are listed in the highly-contested International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s “Working Definition of anti-Semitism” that label any criticism against the state of Israel as anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism is hatred for and discrimination against people who are Jewish. Israel is a state actor, not a religion, and criticism of state actors – any state actor – is essential to a healthy democracy.

Also absent in Texas State policy yet present in the Executive order is conflating support for Palestine and anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. Anti-Zionism is opposition to the colonization of Palestine and ethno-nationalist apartheid in Israel. This conflation is directly related to the Governor’s directive to “discipline” and “punish” pro-Palestine student groups – those specifically named are the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine. Governor Abbott labels such student groups as “radical” and their peaceful activism “anti-Semitic.”

Lastly, while not present in University policy either, administrative attempts at barring the use of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” have already been enforced prior to the Executive order’s official implementation at Texas State University. The order falsely claims that this phrase is fundamentally anti-Semitic; this slogan is an aspirational call for freedom, equality, and peace used by Muslim and Jewish groups alike to call for the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

This demonstrates that the vagueness of Texas State’s updated policy is double-edged, and can put pro-Palestine students, staff, and faculty in danger of unjust punishment. Will our university administration stand up for our academic freedom, or will it sacrifice the mission of our institution to carry out the personal political agenda of an unchecked bureaucrat? Texas State must make clear how it seeks to use its discretionary authority or else it will enable a culture of fear to speak out against an ongoing genocide.

We must strongly defend academic freedom on our campus, stand up for pro-Palestine student organizations across the state, and protect every student's right to freedom of speech – all of which are threatened by this new attack. To this end, we need a commitment from Texas State University President, Dr. Kelly R. Damphousse, and The Texas State University System Board of Regents that they will take a stand against this veiled attack on academic freedom and Palestinians:

Reject conflating support for Palestinian rights and legitimate criticism of Israel with Anti-semitism.

Render the implementation of the Executive order to solely protect Jewish students from Anti-semitism, not punish students for supporting Palestine.

Reaffirm the legitimacy of student organizations in support of Palestine.

Reject forbidding the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

Support for Palestine CANNOT be treated as an exception to Texas State University’s mission to facilitate free and rigorous debate over important issues and ideas; instead, it is a proving ground for our shared values and the stated values of Texas State University.